Sewing Substitutes for fake leather?

You can try looking for suede if you want a fake leather with less texture.
Or why not use real leather? It keeps up much better than fake leather which tends to disintergrate after a while.

 

Ultrasuede is a thin type of suede that you might find useful. I haven't tested it much yet (I bought some for making shoes) but it seems nice.

 

I wonder if you could use wax or some type of protectant treatment material to change the texture/appearance of fabric? I've seen people in dark waxed denim jeans in the past and they look leather-ish, I wonder if on a smaller scale that could work.

I suppose it depends on what look you specifically want -aged vs brand new/shiny. Maybe even get a little crafty with fiber paper with gloss nail polish (for high shine) for detail accents or pieces that don't need much movement?

 

If you take a very fine fabric and layer acrylic paints on it in the colors you want it can be a nice faux leather. Use satin or matte or glossy paints for different looks, and you may want to sponge on layers of darker and lighter colors. Mix in some textile medium to make it more flexible and durable.

 

Ahh I see. Yeah at that size I use thin garment leather. Faux leather is just plastic, and disintegrates in a year or three, whereas actual leather is a byproduct of the meat industry and biodegradable if it breaks down after a few... centuries. You want kid leather or pigskin leather, the stuff described as used for gloves or purses. Glovers' Sharps are needles meant for sewing leather and they make it much easier too. Test stitch on some scraps if you need to calibrate how many stitches per cm will not just cause the leather to rip.

If you are determined not to use leather for personal reasons, as I know some people are, there are faux lather fabrics in "Fashion fabrics" type categories that have a sort of flat shiny surfacing on them to create the look of leather without being actual rubbery PU.

 

THis seller is in Ukraine, so if they're still shipping out it'd be cool to buy from them. I do like to use this kind of stuff for things I don't want to try to attempt with actual leather, and it's more of a cloth, so it doesn't, in my experience, peel and crumble as quickly as PU "Leather."

THis is more a stretch type fabric but that's good for leggings and things.

Here's some classic Black.

Faux Suede fabrics are another way to avoid the rubbery issues of PU Pleather.